The field of the invention is flying toys.
There are many types of flying toys, including mechanically powered flying toys (such as those using rubber bands, motors, and pressurized gas or water for propulsion) and hand-launched toys having no on-board propulsion system. Within the latter category are substantially hollow, tubular shapes, through which air can pass as the toy is flying through the air. Some of those toys are described below.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,067,922 issued to M. E. McMahon (Nov. 26, 1991) teaches an insulating device for keeping a container of liquid from losing its thermal content to its environment that can double as a recreational throwing toy. The device is constructed of an insulating material, which is adhered to the inner side of the outer cylinder of a stiff, yet flexible plastic composite that provides aerodynamic stability and durability.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,246,721 issued to L. Bowers (Jan. 27, 1981) teaches an aerial toy comprising a substantially annular hollow body having a thin wall intermediate portion including a leading and trailing edge, and an annular recess formed on the outer surface of the thin wall intermediate portion immediately adjacent the leading edge.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,790,788 issued to J. M. Hill (Dec. 13, 1988) teaches an aerial toy comprising a body having a leading edge and a trailing edge, and comprising a flexible resilient thin wall sail or airfoil extending forward from the trailing edge. The toy has a ratio of body length to body diameter of between 1:1.25 and 1:1.35.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,923 issued to R. D. Etheridge (Jul. 25, 1989) teaches a flying toy with a hollow cylinder having an annular side wall with a leading end and a trailing end and an inner and outer surface is formed so that the outer surface of the side wall at the leading end of the cylinder has an airfoil shape, so that a lift is generated on the outer surface of the side wall of the cylinder as the cylinder travels through the air.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,264,776 issued to W. B. Morrow (Aug. 9, 1966) teaches tubular flying toys exhibiting airfoil characteristics. The toy has a weighted area at the leading end, and is made from polyvinyl chloride, high and low density polyethylene, styrene, wood aluminum and many other materials that are stiff and rigid and have a specific gravity of approximately 0.9 or greater.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,683,603 issued to P. H. Gackenbach teaches a projectile with a generally hollow cylindrical or tubular construction with a peculiarly warped and eccentric construction and erratic eccentric weight distribution, which is designed to give it its erratic flight.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,600,842 issued to H. Bryman (Aug. 24, 1971) teaches a glider toy that is formed of a light plastic hollow cylindrical body, the leading edge of which is circular and lies in a plane normal to the cylindrical axis. The leading edge is reinforced with a plastic band, while the trailing edge of the body is angularly disposed with respect to the cylindrical axis. The body is preferably made from polystyrene.
Despite the considerable diversity in tube-shaped flying toys, they are all similar in having tail portions with thicknesses that are at least 5 mm or more. One result is that the tail portions of those toys are stiff and/or not easily crushable, which surprisingly makes the toys difficult to throw. Thus, there is a need to provide tube-shaped flying toys having very thin tail portions.
The present invention is a tube-shaped flying toy having an extremely flexible tail, preferably not more than 1 mm thick. Preferred embodiments have tissue like tail sections, with thicknesses of not more than 0.5 mm.
The toy is designed to be thrown by a person or a launcher and glide through the air before falling to the ground. The toy is contemplated to be lightweight and flexible, bendable, and crushable, especially the tail portion. Various objects, features, aspects and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description of preferred embodiments of the invention, along with the accompanying drawings in which like numerals represent like components.